Art exhibitions travel the world

Abstract

In the era of global mobility, when visitors travel abroad to museums renowned for their admired artworks, they may be disappointed to find their favourite paintings missing from their galleries. This is because museum artefacts also travel, through art exhibitions linking museums across borders. The protagonist of this chapter is the international travelling exhibition (ITE), which is composed of exhibits temporarily loaned from museums and galleries in a number of countries and usually organized by curators from at least two countries. As a temporarily cross-national exhibition, the ITE can create spectacular events attracting many visitors. Moreover, those cities able to host ITEs or lend major travelling exhibits to such events demonstrate their cosmopolitan credentials and enrol their people as global cultural citizens. ITEs signal a new era for museums and heritages, not only because of their intensified global connectivity, but also their new relationship with society. However, ITEs have received little academic attention, nor substantial academic attempts to elaborate the translation and connection they foster between museums and global heritage, and how this might relate to contemporary tourism mobilities.

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